Drew Pearson, ’28-3,’ more: Five best pick announcements from 2023 NFL Draft

One of the best traditions of the modern draft era happens when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell steps aside after the first round and lets legends, players and fans announce picks for their respective teams.

The 2023 NFL Draft saw some memorable pick announcements in Kansas City, including the return of a Dallas Cowboys icon and an Atlanta Falcons fan’s hilarious response to a familiar taunt.

Here are five must-see selection announcements from this year’s three-day spectacle.

A legend returns

Drew Pearson, the legendary Cowboys wide receiver who helped make No. 88 the marker for top Dallas receivers, first went viral in 2017 when he goaded a boisterous crowd of Philadelphia Eagles fans into more and more boos while praising his Cowboys before announcing their second-round selection.

This year’s crowd in Kansas City appeared to be less bitter, but Pearson was still in fine form as he announced Dallas’s selection of Michigan tight end Luke Schoonmaker with the 58th overall pick.

Flipping a coin

Damar Hamlin‘s mid-game cardiac arrest in the Week 17 matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals — and the subsequent suspension of that game — meant that the league had to get inventive when determining seeding for the playoffs due to the ensuing uneven records. Part of the league’s solution was to determine the AFC North champion via coin flip if the Bengals lost to the Baltimore Ravens the following week.

Cincinnati won that game, but not before Bengals fans — and even members of the team, such as running back Joe Mixon — became upset at even the possibility that home-field advantage in a playoff matchup could come down to a coin flip.

Most have since moved on from that dustup, especially since the coin flip possibility never came to pass. However, Bengals superfan Phil Armein is not most people. After all, the man won Bengals Fan of The Year for a reason.

Trolling all of K.C.

With all respect to Drew Pearson, Jason McCourty arguably won this year’s title of biggest NFL Draft heel. McCourty, who announced the third-round pick for the Tennessee Titans franchise, which once drafted him, came prepared.

First, he reminded the crowd that the Kansas City Chiefs could very well have three Super Bowl titles in the modern era if not for McCourty’s New England Patriots winning the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium in January 2019 to put an abrupt end to Patrick Mahomes‘ first MVP season.

Then, he really invited some boos by declaring that Tennessee — not Kansas City — had the best barbecue in the nation.

McCourty finished by taking swipes at all three of the Titans’ division rivals — the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars — before announcing Tennessee’s selection.

Not amused

It’s been more than six years since the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, but Atlanta Falcons fans don’t want to be reminded. While announcing the team’s seventh-round pick at No. 224 overall, a decked-out Falcons fan was not thrilled when someone in the crowd shouted out a familiar score.

“28-3. Good one. We’ve heard that before,” the fan retorted, as the broadcast crew erupted in laughter.

“Eagles, what happened?”

Jamesdroz, the social media sensation famous for taunting teams after losses with the brutal catchphrase, “What happened?” emerged on stage to announce the 250th overall pick on behalf of his Chiefs.

He immediately came out swinging against the team who lost to K.C. in Super Bowl LVII.

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